As the five remaining Republican presidential candidates face off at the CNN/Southern Republican debate in South Carolina, the man they're trying to replace in the White House, President Barack Obama, is going up with the first paid TV commercials of his 2012 re-election bid.

Lexington, South Carolina (CNN) - Mitt Romney betrayed a weakness for pulled pork and a joking desire to see reporters covering his campaign "turn green" during a barbecue run through a South Carolina smokehouse Wednesday.

The GOP candidate bounded off his campaign bus for a stop at Hudson's Smokehouse in Lexington, an authentic barbecue joint he visited during his first presidential run four years ago.

Ottoway (CNN) - In a phone conversation that came as little surprise, President Barack Obama called Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday afternoon to explain why he had rejected the Keystone oil sands pipeline project.

In a statement released by Harper's office, the president is quoted as saying that the decision was not a decision based on the "merits of the project" and that TransCanada, the company looking to build the pipeline, could reapply for permission after a new route had been developed.

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - Turn on your television here in the Palmetto State, tune it to a local TV station, and during the commercial breaks you get inundated with a barrage of campaign spots.

Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, which preceded South Carolina in the primary and caucus calendar, this first-in-the-south-primary state is experiencing an avalanche of ads. Many of those commercials are negative in nature, and many of them are coming not from the GOP presidential campaigns, but rather independent super PACs that are supporting the Republican candidates.

It was already a foregone conclusion that they were going to deny the permit, according to multiple Democratic sources. They had made clear they couldn't approve it within the 60 day deadline set by Congress. With the State of the Union looming next week, this allowed them an opportunity to address the controversy and move on.

New York (CNNMoney) - You can add Rick Santorum to the list of Republican presidential candidates with plans to cut taxes for most Americans, while possibly adding billions to the federal deficit.

Assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended, 69% of Americans would get a tax cut that averages nearly $7,800 under the Santorum plan, according to a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center, a think tank that has been examining each candidate's plan.

(CNN) - If Newt Gingrich wins the White House in November, the former House speaker said Wednesday Sarah Palin may get a big seat at the table.

"I would ask her to consider taking a major role in the next administration if I'm president, but nothing has been discussed of any kind," Gingrich said on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."